You are here

Excellent site.

Submitted by Star Child on Wed, 2007-08-22 14:13

It's amazing that this site/forum doesn't have more activity. Most people just go from one orgasm to the next, savoring the highs and slogging along in the lows. They're the proverbial fish in water who are never aware of the air above them. One really must be part-way to their awakening before seeking a site like this for further truth.

I was already familiar with writings on Brahmacharya before coming here, so much of the material wasn't a surprise to me. It was being put in terms of neurotransmitters and such rather than the eastern talk about energy and vitality, so that resonated more with me as a westerner of more empirical bent. Nonetheless, I did think those yogis were on to something.

The writing on this site is pretty good, and I pretty much inhaled all of the anti-porn/orgasm material in one night. I'm going to leave the sacred sexual practices sections for later because I don't have a partner at the moment.

Another thing I found potent about this site is how the dichotomy of concern is not put in terms of good/evil, reality/illusion, purity/perversion, but the differing goals of our limbic systems and higher selves residing in more advanced parts of the brain. This is a truly enlightened and rational approach, and it gives the aspirant a tangible obstacle to overcome. It's much easier to take the part of the dispassionate observer (something crucial to this struggle) when we have a reasonable understanding of the causes behind our troubles.

[quote=Star Child]...the dichotomy of concern is not put in terms of good/evil, reality/illusion, purity/perversion, but the differing goals of our limbic systems and higher selves residing in more advanced parts of the brain.[/quote]

I guess that's the most comfortable way to look at it for scientists et al. The purity/perversion or good/evil dichotomy is just as accurate as the modern neurochemical paradigm, only that it was effective in a very different era. This is what has gone wrong with modern religion in my opinion. As an example, translators of the Upanishads keep using the terms "sin" and "belief", which are such loaded Christian terms, thus giving a false picture of the Upanishads and even the Bhagavad Gita. The Gita is certainly not the "thou shalt not be sinful" type of scripture, it simply states that you don't want to do bad things because you'll have to pay the price in the end, not because you have to or must (which brings in a sense of repression and imposition).

[quote=Star Child]...put in terms of neurotransmitters and such rather than the eastern talk about energy and vitality[/quote]

I've been thinking that maybe the Eastern philosophers were really advanced scientists. Of course, they didn't have all the physical equipment and machinery, but they came to conclusions in a way that the Western mind could have never conceived. Eastern philosophy, at the heart of which is Hindu thought, firmly believed that the greatest lab is in the mind.

[quote=Will Durant in Our Oriental Heritage]Europe is only a jagged promontory of Asia.[/quote]

[quote=Will Durant]India was the motherland of our race, and Sanskrit the mother of Europe's languages: she was the mother of our philosophy; mother, through the Arabs, of much of our mathematics; mother, through the Buddha, of the ideals embodied in Christianity; mother, through the village community, of self-government and democracy. Mother India is in many ways the mother of us all.[/quote]

You are right: Marnia and Gary have worked hard to make sure the material is presented in a non-judgmental way. People are either interested, or they are not. They want the wisdom here to be accessible to any person who is interested. Any notion of 'sin', or 'salvation' can put many people off.

So, yes, Gary and Marnia can be commended for making the information available to everyone, while avoiding words with a loaded meaning.

Having said that, I personally don't have the same concept of 'sin' as Marnia does. I can accept that I am a 'sinner' without feeling guilty about it: it is a fact, something to work upon, an aspect of my psychology to improve. I appreciate what Frank says, above.

Welcome to the forum. I am looking forward to your contributions to our collective search.

Thank you, too, Frank, for the reminder about the Hindu/Asian influence on the West. Too bad it isn't even stronger!

I suspect, however, that the sacred sexuality/controlled intercourse wisdom is not just a product of one culture. I think it's true because it's true. That's why others have occasionally stumbled upon it independently (http://www.reuniting.info/male_continence_noyes).

For me, "sin" is actually "error," something to be corrected, not something indelible or punishable (other than through the karma it earns for itself). Maybe I'm a Hindu at heart. Could be why I prefer Asian foods.;-)

[quote=Marnia Robinson]I suspect, however, that the sacred sexuality/controlled intercourse wisdom is not just a product of one culture. I think it's true because it's true. That's why others have occasionally stumbled upon it independently[/quote]

Surely, I agree with that. After the European Renaissance, all of scientific development in the West has been disconnected with Eastern thought, except in modern times (after 1900). Also, I don't think that there's something inherently great about Asians per se. It just happened that after the ice age (around 10000BC), human populations underwent changes and the Indian subcontinent came to be highly populated. Because of the climatic conditions, which gave rise to stable society and government (biological stability giving rise to social stability), intellectual pursuits could be undertaken at all. This was not the case with the West.

Sorry for drifting off, I just thought I needed to comment on that (because it can create a perception that Westerners are less smart, which is not true because man is always so dependent on circumstance).